A side trip on an assignment in Inner Mongolia to gawp at what has become known as Ordos ghost town, the recently planned and built 'new city' about 30km from the old one, which has spectacularly failed to work. Only had time for a couple of shots as we drove through empty streets.

These photos were consciously taken to show Ordos at her most empty; in fact, a McDonalds was doing decent trade and there were a few other signs of life. It'll fill up soon enough, was our consensus.

The driver told us the hospital has no doctors, the museum no artifacts and the housing is about 10-15 percent occupied. With apartments down to a tenth of the original asking price maybe now's the time to invest. Right?